Dabbling with Alternative Therapies for Autism

December 1, 2011

In my pre-Autism mom days, I was a skeptic.  I didn’t really get the whole alternative medicine thing.  I didn’t buy in to theories that we should avoid medicines, eat organic, refuse vaccinations and all that conspiracy theory stuff. And I certainly wouldn’t have experimented with alternative therapies for any child of mine if the [...]

Read the full article →

Looking For Ways to Protect Our Special Needs Children

November 16, 2011

Ever since the news broke about the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, I’ve been haunted by the thoughts of those poor children that fell victim.  Innocent. Vulnerable.  Now scarred. A week later, a story breaks on the The Today Show about a family that discovered their special needs daughter had been bullied and traumatized by [...]

Read the full article →

Helping Hands for Special Needs Families

November 4, 2011

I’m feeling the holiday spirit, and it’s not even Thanksgiving.  That’s a first for me, and I give all credit to a dear friend who has inspired me and challenged me to think what I can do to help our autism community. You see, my friend has this amazing blog – momastery – and she’s [...]

Read the full article →

Struggling Against the Autism Pit

October 19, 2011

A couple of weeks ago we took a break from our regular nighttime routine of watching old “AFV” shows with the kids and broke out our own videos. Our videos — like lots of other things in our lives — are a jumbled mishmash, unsorted and unlabeled.  So it was a bit of an adventure [...]

Read the full article →

Using the iPad to Improve Communication Skills

October 10, 2011

Friends, please welcome guest blogger Elizabeth Vosseller, a pediatric speech-language pathologist and the director of Growing Kids Therapy Center in Herndon, Virginia. by Elizabeth Vosseller With the sad loss of Steve Jobs this week, I thought a discussion of how to use the iPad to improve communication skills would be an appropriate topic.  Steve Jobs talked [...]

Read the full article →

Experimenting With a Gluten Free Diet to Treat Autism

October 5, 2011

There’s not much I won’t try – at least once – in the quest to help my son overcome the challenges of autism. By the time Carson was four-years-old, I thought I had exhausted the possibilities –  speech therapy, occupational therapy, ABA, sensory motor integration therapy, and special-ed preschool.  But there was one lingering intervention [...]

Read the full article →

Advocating for our Autistic Children

September 26, 2011

As we start this new school year, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting –  reflecting on how far we’ve come on our autism journey; strategizing our next steps; developing a plan of action. And as I reflect, I also give thanks.  Yes, autism is a big challenge for our whole family and will likely [...]

Read the full article →

Scheduling Woes of an Autism Parent

September 14, 2011

My circumstance isn’t unique.  Like thousands of other autism parents, I feel like my life is a whirlwind of appointments, therapies and evaluations. I feel the pressure of time weighing on me. Tick Tock.  Time is marching on and we just have so much we need to do, NOW.  We need to work on speech [...]

Read the full article →

New School Year, New Beginnings

September 7, 2011

He jumped out of the car without a look back.  Smile on his face, eager for a new adventure. Yesterday was Carson’s first day of first grade, and I’m feeling all mixed up inside. Happy to get back to a routine.  Scared for what lies ahead.  Anxious that Carson will fall behind. New school.  New [...]

Read the full article →

Playing with Fire

August 31, 2011

I had a harsh wake up call this past weekend, just as I was thinking we had it all under control.  Just as I thought Carson had turned a corner – growing, maturing,  “getting it” – he started a fire in our house. All kids like to experiment.  All kids push the boundaries, making choices [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →